


New Bits in Between

by UnrealRomance



Series: Connected Dimensions [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, MGiT, Modern Girl in Thedas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-06 19:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8765626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnrealRomance/pseuds/UnrealRomance
Summary: Moments from my Rewritten story-- scenes you don't get to see in the main story and an expansion on things MENTIONED in the main story.
Different POV's, some of them will be from servants and civilians and other NPC-type characters.





	1. Solas POV - Arcane Advisor

**Author's Note:**

> Took me a while to figure out what to start with, but here it is. lol.

It comes as a shock when I walk into the War room after being summoned to find _everyone_ there. I assumed I was being called in to consult with Nik and Josephine, or Leliana.

Their attention is all centered on me and for just a moment as I enter, I feel a flutter of panic. As if I believed they could _know_ , but that is ridiculous, so I shove the panic away.

"You wished to see me?" I address Nik, but I am aware they may all have required my presence. Perhaps there is new information. About the Conclave, the Gray Wardens…

"It occurred to me that you don't have an official place in the Inquisition." Nik's frown is apparent on her face, understated as it is. "You're basically just hanging out and helping but you don't really have more than a paycheck."

I stare at her for a long moment, and then ask... "What else is there to give me?"

She sighs explosively and rolls her eyes. An expression of exasperation. "How about authority? Solas, if the mages are doing something wrong and you know it- don't you want the freedom to correct them and know they'll actually _listen_ to you?"

"I do not approve of the Herald's leniency with magic, especially researching the more…distasteful schools." The Commander makes a face as if smelling something awful, but it soon smooths into calm dissatisfaction. "But she is correct that you are a better example to put atop the command chain than any of the others."

I feel some surprise, though I do not allow it to show on my face. "Nik is atop the command chain for the mages."

"But I'm not a mage." She responds easily. "I can be in charge of things in an administrative capacity, but I have no idea of the practical applications of magic. You'd be carrying out all the…" She pauses to search for a word. "I have the plans worked out, and the rules- you'd be the one figuring out _how_ to do all the things I want done…and then delegating the duties to those under you, who would then in turn delegate under themselves."

I try to catch her gaze, but it darts away. "You intend to make me…your lieutenant, for lack of a better word." It shouldn't come as such a surprise, not after Val Royeax. But it does, all the same.

"My Arcane Advisor, as I've said." She corrects me, glancing at the War table. "You remember when I said I hated the title, Herald of Andraste and you told me that posturing and titles and things like that were necessary?"

Ah.

Understanding washes over me. "Why not give this position to Madame de Fer?" I glance at Cullen and tilt my head. "Would her views not be more palatable to you, Commander?"

He looks sick for a moment, for some reason.

Nik reaches over to grasp his armored gauntlet and squeeze, before releasing.

Not a gesture of comfort. It is meant to bring the Commander back from wherever he has gone. He blinks and comes back to himself with a shiver and a shake of his head.

' _Likely remembering something from Kinloch hold or the Kirkwall circle._ ' My agents are thorough in their research. What the man has been through understandably turned him against mages on the whole…though he seems to have softened over time and even shows respect and courtesy to the mages in the Inquisition.

"Nik has informed me that the Circle's way of…" He pauses and wrings his hands. "That denying mages the means to understand other schools of magic, such as…"

"I brought up the fact that the reason most of the mages who do blood magic turn into abominations is because they're ignorant." Nik explains, sighing and shaking her head. "By denying them the freedom to do it or even learn how it's done, they make them yearn to learn it, just to be contrary." Her eyes roll again and she's smirking now. "Humans, Elves, Qunari, Dwarves…it doesn't matter. If you're a thinking being, you rail against unfair authority."

"It was her recommendation that we allow the mages to learn spirit magics from you." Leliana intones softly from the corner in the back of the room, her eyes glittering from under her hood. "Varric has attested that blood magic can be practiced safely, and though we are skeptical- the Herald assures us that the freedom to practice blood magic will ensure most do not desire to do so." Her nose wrinkles. "I am not quite clear _how_ even now…but she has not been wrong, yet."

"Rebellion doesn't just come in revolution flavors." Nik informs us, confusingly. "There are small acts, little rebellions that people enact every day. Speech, clothing, affectations…" Her face warms and her mouth spreads in a brilliant smile. "If they have no boundary to batter themselves against, they will be content. They might flirt with the art, or even learn all the proper ways to handle it just in case they need to- but most people would probably hesitate to slice themselves open."

"I could teach them under her supervision." I assert. "Why put me in charge when you could simply use me?"

It was the wrong thing to say.

The Herald's expression stills, she goes pale and she looks me in the eye, surprisingly. "I don't _use_ people."

I am caught between a scoff and…well, disbelief. "Everyone uses people, Herald. It is a reality of the world."

"No." She responds, looking frustrated. "The people working for the Inquisition are here by _choice_. If you don't _want_ to be here, you shouldn't be."

I realize my error and sigh, "I did not mean to imply that I was being held against my will. I am here of my own choice, of course."

"I wasn't referring to _just_ you." She responds testily. "Everyone here is here because they want to be. For safety, purpose, whatever else…" Her shoulders droop as she gazes at the far wall. "I work with people, I don't _use_ them."

After a long moment, I realize she isn't precisely speaking to me. "Be that as it may, I still do not understand why you don't have me working under Vivienne."

"Vivienne is narrow-minded and kind of dangerous." She responds easily, seemingly forgetting her melancholy. "I don't want to give her any more influence than I already have, and she'd…well, she'd run it wrong." Her skin turns pink as she chews her bottom lip. "She's competent, but she's repressed, and she'd repress my people. You'd exercise caution, but you'd encourage new thinking."

Well.

I bow my head a bit and consider that as I rake my eyes over the war table. "I suppose…it would be foolish to decline."

The relief on her face when I glance up is apparent.

"Though I would like to know what the rest of you think of this." I turn my eyes to Cassandra, who has been silent.

"We took a vote, Solas." Leliana informs me, tilting her head.

"I was not certain." Cassandra answers my gaze with a raise of her chin. "But Nik has many plans and many explanations for why they must be the way they are…I trust her judgment." Her eyes dart from me to Nik, and then back. "And you have never done anything harmful to any of the members of the Inquisition."

The unspoken declaration of tentative trust in _me_ …is somewhat shocking.


	2. Dahlia POV - Please Accept Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically in-between chapters 69 and 70, from Dahlia's POV.
> 
> I've had such a block on this-- but then I realized I didn't have to go in order or anything so I'll just mark where each one goes, I guess.

We were afraid, that she wouldn't accept. That we'd be left here, kneeling in the snow with a denial or without even a response.

We were terrified she'd reject us and we would have nothing. Scared even to look up when we heard her turn around and halt in the middle of her sentence.

She tried to ask us to stand, but our knees were weak. She asked us to reconsider but we could see no other way.

Her worship begged us to think about this a bit longer, told us that this was dangerous- that we should enjoy our freedom rather than try to give it away at the first opportunity.

Every word simply cemented every single one of our desires to belong to her.

"Doll, please." She pleads with me, kneeling herself to grasp my shoulders. "If you do this, you'll be bound to me forever- there's no going back. Even if I let you go, even if you hate me and denounce my leadership- this bond won't go away."

So I lift my head as much as I can and I look her in the eye. "We know."

Ren beside me lifts his head too, "we can accept that."

Her worship looked so sick at that. I just knew this is how she would react, and I know she's the only one.

If we'd sworn ourselves to anyone else, the reaction would be much different. The blood magic- the mention of the ritual- would net us disdain and instant denial in most cases. In the cases that it wouldn't, we would be leashed and harnessed as no better than tools. Or denied because mages are inherently filthy, sinful things.

"We want to be your mages. Yours and no one else's!" One of the combat mages in the back shouts.

There is a murmur of agreement through the whole of the crowd.

The Herald sighs and rubs her face with her fingertips. "I need to figure this out. Will you give me time to figure this out?"

My heart leaps and I hurriedly nod my head. "Take all the time you need, Lady Herald."

' _Please accept us. Don't reject us._ ' Please, just once, allow us to make a choice that will secure our own destinies.


	3. Vivienne POV - Queen of the Templars

"You are putting me in charge of the Templars?" I can hardly believe my ears. This girl has hamstrung my every attempt to gain influence among the mages and now she gives me the Templars? What is she _playing_ at?

The Herald, her _holiness-_ sits across from me in the War room, her faithful Seeker at her left side. "I'm putting you in charge of the administrative duties. Keeping track of them, what they need and if anyone needs to be brought back to Haven for intensive healing or even just because they're experiencing emotional outbursts…" She trails off and shrugs. "You'll be their 'Tamassran', 'Arishok'- 'Queen', if you like."

There is a curl to her lips that is entirely too amused with this situation.

"And what would my duties entail, precisely- beyond administrative duties?" I ask, plucking a grape from the small dish on the table to pop into my mouth.

Delicate, poised. _Always poised._

"You'd be expected to be on the front lines with them- or to accompany whatever units might need your expertise and experience in whatever missions you deem it necessary to go on." She leans back in her seat, indolent and at ease. "Delrin Barris will be the Commander- who will pass on orders to the rest of them- but you'd be in charge of any unit you decided to accompany."

"So I am their watcher and their caretaker." I say, feeling the words in my mouth. Why do they feel so strange?

"Just like the Templars have always watched and been the caretakers for the mages." She rolls her eyes. "Or well, how they were _supposed_ to do it."

Ah.

"Why not simply leave the Templar commander in charge, then?" I ask.

"Well, for one thing…" She ticks off on her fingers as she goes. "Delrin knows how to manage, but only to a certain point. He's a great leader- but doesn't do too well with too many responsibilities at once, I think. HE actually seemed to be a little pale when I started talking about appointing him the _commander_ , let alone the Advisor in charge of the forces. I think he could handle it, but he doesn't seem to feel ready yet."

"Ah. And this makes me one of your advisors, then. Does it?" How interesting to appoint me _now_. I had thought her attempting to push me aside or get rid of me. What could I possibly have done to prove myself?

"You are now my Templar Movement Advisor, yes. Cullen will be looking over their recoveries and I expect the both of you to work together. But if you wanna be snarky I have no problem with that."

"Herald." The Seeker sends her a look, sighing.

"What? He used to be a Templar in _Kirkwall_. I'm sure lots of people are pissed off about seeing him here. Whether they knew him or not. Can't police people's feelings, Cassandra."

"I believe the Commander and I will get on swimmingly." I gracefully interject. "Templars have not bothered me much over my life." They soon learned to fear me, rather than the other way around.

The Herald grins at me. "I'm glad you've decided to accept."

I smile, small and delicate- "I can assure you, you won't regret this."


	4. Cullen POV - Addiction, A Desire Demon

"Leliana, I'm telling you- it doesn't _work_. And even when it does, the working can be manipulated!" Nik and Leliana are arguing over the table.

I am sitting in a plush armchair, attempting to ignore them. My head is pounding like my heart has decided to make it its new residence and I can barely focus on this foolishness. "Nik, we gain valuable intel from these…turncoats." I suppose that's all we can call them.

"Hey, if someone is attempting to destroy your way of life- I see no problem with trying to get answers out of them. But torture is both inhumane and _ineffective_. How many times have you had to chase down false leads and ended up realizing you'd been played by people trained to deal with torture?"

Leliana huffs, "it is worth the effort if it keeps you all safe."

"I'm saying I can give you an _alternative_ that would work better. More effort in some ways, less in others- more tricking answers out of them than anything else." The Herald smiles and the scar on one side of her mouth turns it into a lopsided smirk. "And if that approach doesn't work- Solas could probably be persuaded to go into their dreams and extract the information that way- without them even knowing. Other mages could probably do it too, if we could figure out a way-"

"I don't believe encouraging a Dreamer to stalk people's dreams is the best path." I suppress a groan at a particularly bright pulse of pain and see the Herald's irritation transform into something softer. Always embarrassing to be caught having a migraine- but I must have made a face.

"Cullen…" She stands from her seat and walks around to my side, threading her fingers in my hair. "You didn't take it today?"

"I thought I could go without." I respond, flushing lightly. She treats me like my sisters do. It's unnerving, irritating…embarrassing…and… _comforting_.

"You can't until you don't need it at all anymore in the mornings. When you feel no pain through breakfast and toward lunch. Remember?" She kneads my head with her fingertips. "Leliana, we'll discuss this more later- I don't want any traitors tortured or killed until then. I really think my idea will work."

"You are not in charge of my scouts, Herald." Leliana crosses her arms and glares at the Herald.

She is still kneading my head and it's beginning to feel _heavenly_.

"No. But I know you can't resist new information and this is the only way I'll give it to you." The Herald responds, smirking just a bit. "If you _did_ go against this agreement, I would then deal with the traitors myself and you wouldn't know how."

Leliana's eyes narrow, but her lips twitch upwards. "I will give you a day to show me this. Tomorrow. After that, no more."

"I can do tomorrow." The Herald grins in response, glancing down at me as she releases my head from her tender touch. "Now you, I know you have one on you, you always do for the others. Take it."

I sigh in resignation and pull the small milky white vial out of one of my pouches. The slight blue sheen makes my mouth water with the promise of the rush of Lyrium.

She explained that to me before. And I remember as I pull out the cork to knock the potion back.

' _Drugs reach into your brains and scramble things around until you crave them. That's a simplistic explanation, but I figure you guys don't wanna hear me go on about the science of Addiction- so I'll make this short. Addiction is not good. It is your brain lying to you. Telling you that the drug is good- when in reality…it's killing you._ '

I just have to remember it's a lie. The feeling of relief, the feeling of _freedom_ and the savoring of the flavor on my tongue. It's a lie. It's a Desire demon, whispering for my soul. I must stay strong and refuse it's power over me.

I will not think of taking a full vial of Lyrium. I will not slip, I will not fall.

"There you go, you look better already." The Herald smiles kindly at me and pats my shoulder. "Just remember to take one every morning, okay? Don't want to be in pain all day."

Cassandra is in charge of watching my dosages to make certain I take them- but I emptied the vial into the snow this morning before she could come and collect it. I didn't want to take it. It feels so much like giving in. Like weakness.

But as the migraine slowly leeches from my head and my muscles slowly begin to stop aching…I know I cannot do this again for a very long time.

It was so much easier to deal with the pain when I didn't know there was a way to escape it. I know it's bad for me to stop. But god, I just want it to be over.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave feedback or hit the kudos button! I sincerely treasure every word and kudos left to me, so don't be shy!
> 
> If not, that's cool too. lol


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